Hawks
Ryan P
Staff

Reviews 259
Soundoffs 177
News Articles 6
Band Edits + Tags 3,751
Album Edits 1,033

Album Ratings 7482
Objectivity 66%

Last Active 09-10-19 6:24 pm
Joined 03-11-08

Review Comments 115,242

 Lists
12.06.25 BINGE O'CLOCK: 100 JAZZ ALBUMS12.06.25 BINGE O'CLOCK: 100 INDIE ROCK ALBUMS
12.03.25 HAWKS' TOP 100 OF 2025!!! ♦12.01.25 HAWKS STEALS DOOF'S: LEGACY BAND OF THE
11.30.25 BLACK METAL RECEMBER ♦11.28.25 BEST PLACE FOR VINYL???
11.25.25 RELEASE OF THE MONTH: NOVEMBER 2025 ♦11.23.25 BINGE O'CLOCK: 100 ELECTRONIC ALBUMS ♦
11.20.25 PERSONAL NOTE FROM HAWKS....11.18.25 BINGE O'CLOCK: 100 HIP-HOP ALBUMS ♦
11.17.25 BEST USER REVIEWS: OCTOBER 2025 ♦10.31.25 RELEASE OF THE MONTH: OCTOBER 2025 ♦
10.25.25 DISCOVERY CHECK LIST: DEATH METAL10.03.25 BEST USER REVIEWS: SEPTEMBER 2025 ♦
09.30.25 2025 REVIEW A RANDOM ALBUM! ♦09.28.25 DISCOVERY CHECK LIST: AMBIENT/ELECTRONI
09.27.25 RELEASE OF THE MONTH: SEPTEMBER 2025 ♦09.26.25 LET ME REC YOU!!!
More »

BEST USER REVIEWS: JULY 2025

Here we are again! Congrats to all included!
1The Story So Far
I Want to Disappear

"There is nothing bad to say about the musicianship, it is not substandard anywhere. And while the regular subject matter of girls and break ups could be considered tired and overdone by any other band at this stage of their career, the stark contrast with the much more profound subject matter on such a beautiful and sophisticated track as White Shores helps to break the album up. Truth be told, I couldn’t listen to that many tracks in a row about grieving the loss of your father, even if each track did reach the musical heights of White Shores."

-NewYorkTankies
2Deadguy
Near-Death Travel Services

"Modern band reunions are often a one-show deal or yearly festival appearances. To be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and I love that well-respected musicians of yesteryear are getting their due and, more importantly, their cash. Reunion albums on the other hand, are a whole different beast. New material, either way, is a positive—if only out of sheer curiosity. On the downside, well… your legacy can truly be tarnished. The less we talk about Refused’s humiliating post-reunion work, the better. With Deadguy, though, I didn’t really know which direction we were headed. After all, this Earth has spun 30 times around the Sun since Fixation, an unfathomable amount of time for a band playing their brand of harsh mathcore. How could a new album possibly be more than simply passable?"

-Futures
3Helms Deep
Chasing The Dragon

"It can be a bit exhausting to take in Chasing The Dragon’s over the top execution all at once but it ultimately comes through as a powerful effort. It feels like a step up from what was already a strong debut, showcasing Helms Deep’s extravagant playing and anthemic songwriting to great effects. While the first half is a bit more consistent and there are places that could’ve benefitted from a bit of trimming, it never feels like the band is biting off more than they can chew."

-PsychicChris
4Dimscua
Dust Eater

"Across four monolithic tracks, the band guides you through soundscapes of agonising sorrow, where anguished vocals and intimidating riffs crumble and disintegrate under their emotional weight. Elder Bairn immediately sets the tone with scabrous screams dragging over a daunting atmosphere. Deliberate, aching riffs and a titanic rhythm draw you deeper into their tense atmosphere before exploding into an absolutely devastating crescendo."

-Chamberbelain
5Jools
Violent Delights

"Many of the songs have a familiar feel and structure and for a group with 6 members, there’s a noticeable lack in original ideas. The eponymous closer is easily the most musically interesting song on the album and hopefully will serve as a precursor of what’s to come for Jools in the future. In the meantime, let Violent Delights tell you a sad story, but kiss you on the cheek for listening. You’ll be glad you did."

-Calc
6bloodthirsty butchers
kocorono

"Bloodthirsty Butchers show a vision of emo where we take the good along with the bad, treasuring inexplicably the memories of loss as warmly as the good parts. It’s in Masahiro Komatsu’s bursts of explosive drumming, Takeshi Imoriya’s melodic bass, and Hideki Yoshimura (and later, Hisako Tabuchi)’s chiming, swaying guitars. And it all started in earnest here on Kocorono, an album that truly is, as its name in translation suggests, from the heart."

-instantradical
7Laura Stevenson
Late Great

"There’s no doubt that Stevenson’s songwriting has kept its strength through the years, and it’s refreshing to hear her delivering more variety across the course of a full album. Late Great swells, blisters, limps, and glides in equal parts. Earworms abound. There’s cohesiveness that shouts back toward her early days and it’s in the dynamics that the closers here land all the harder. You believe her claims of closure in “Late Great” and the resolute reprise of “#1 (2)”. Even with the haunting refrain of “Middle Love” lingering, you know there's another side to these moments of the bottom falling."

-iswimfast
8Clipse
Let God Sort Em Out

"Clipse are back after over fifteen years seperated to a staggering amount of hype, as "Your favorite rapper's favorite rappers" are finally reunited following Malice's self-imposed exile. Look no further than the features Pusha and now Clipse are able to secure, as rap's heaviest hitters are seemingly always willing to throw down for their projects (Jay-Z, Kendrick, Nas, KanYe, Tyler etc.). The rollout has been spectacular, and the group has endeared themselves to the massives on a wild interview run as they reveal just how compelling and interesting they are in a sea of clout-chasers and posers. This is part of their methodical brilliance, as a generation of hip-hop fans got to learn their story in the lead-up to the release."

-0GuyMan0
9Friko
Where We've Been, Where We Go from Here

"Throughout the course of Friko’s debut, I never found myself questioning what they’re trying to accomplish. The purpose of this album wasn’t just to show off their musicality, but to introduce the listener to who they are. Transitionally the song styles can be inconsistent, but in this case it feels more appropriately like an exhibition of complex human emotions in song form. In my opinion the best way to counter the perception of creative bankruptcy in music is with earnest songwriting and honest presentation, both of which the duo seem to excel at."

-RVAHC13
10Illumishade
Another Side Of You

"Since this is one of the latest fallenmaniac albums, what does it suggest about the future of this whole scene? Probably that we’ll get more fallenmaniac albums of varying quality and success, some very derivative and some with more personality, but always rather entertaining. And this is why I’ll keep reviewing more fallenmaniac albums, some recent and some older, as long as they’re interesting to talk about."

-Malen
11Nuvolascura
How This All Ends

"In terms of blinding albums, Nuvolascura's sophomore effort How This All Ends ticks all the right boxes - downright nasty emoviolence complimented with a heavy overtone of metallic metalcore chaos. As far as screamo goes, this is the cream of the crop - expect this band to blow up this year with this release under their belts - quite geniunely, one of the finest modern screamo albums to come out this year so far."

-Confessed2005
12Alex G
Headlights

"That push-pull is present from the first track: “June Guitar” is one of the most immediately endearing songs he’s released in years, driven by gentle mandolin, soft electric keys, and a kind of wide-eyed emotional tone that feels nostalgic without leaning too hard into sentimentality. It’s loose, light, and subtly bittersweet—the kind of opener that makes you think maybe this is going to be one of those albums."

-Gyromania
13Poets of the Fall
Jealous Gods

"I could go on with song descriptions, but as I myself went in blind, I think it’s the most rewarding way of getting into this release. Turn your sight to the atmosphere then, as it’s another key component of this album’s appeal. It’s maturely positive, to put it shortly. Uplifting music is a dangerous ground to tread on and one on which countless songwriting attempts have been laid to waste; something many listeners long for, yet might end up disappointed with, as it’s very easy for an author to lose the balance and make the final product sound uninspired and cheesy."

-arthropod
14Bruce Dickinson
More Balls To Picasso

"To be as fair as possible to Bruce and co, he definitely took a different approach to remixing a past effort than most did. I can see this new reimagined version making new fans and attracting new audiences to his music. But by itself, More Balls leaves a lot to be desired. The lack of any material from the second disc from the 2001 reissue, such as his disturbing yet amazing masterpiece “The Breeding House”, the stellar “Fire Child” and even lack of inclusion of the aforementioned alternate version of “Tears” makes you wonder what the point of reimagining such an album was. Bruce, I absolutely love you man, but I think I'd rather have just heard a proper remix of the album than… uh, whatever THIS was."

-TheMoonchild
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